On Wednesday, the Washington Times posted an article reporting that part of the spending bill passed by Congress included a ban on detainee-transfer funds (to transfer inmates at Guantanamo to America).
The article reports that the comprehensive spending bill was not really what either Democrats or Republicans wanted:
"The spending bill, which includes wide-ranging new regulations on food safety and shifts money to Democratic priorities, even as it also blocks the Guantanamo Bay transfers, is already two months overdue as Democrats have struggled to find ways to balance their policy preferences with the deteriorating fiscal condition of the government."
The Democrats are anxious to pass as many bills as they can before the Republicans take control of the House.
Meanwhile, there are some numbers recently released that show the need for Guantanamo. On Tuesday the Washington Times posted an article about a recent report on the number of Guantanamo detainees that have returned to terrorism after being released:
"The report, made public Tuesday, stated that out of a total of 598 (Guantanamo) detainees released as of October, 150 were confirmed or suspected of "reengaging in terrorist or insurgent activities after transfer," the two-page unclassified summary said."
Traditionally prisoners of war are held until the war is over. We are in an awkward position here because technically the prisoners at Guantanamo are not prisoners of war--they did not wear uniforms, and they do not represent a country. Chances are the war on terror will continue for at least one generation. What do we do with these people? There has been some talk recently about colonizing Mars with senior citizens. What about with Guantanamo detainees? The British did it with Australia. Just thinking.
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